Sri: Srimathe Ramanujaya nama: SriSita Lakshmana Bharatha Shatrugna Hanuman sametha SriRamachandra Parabrahmane nama: Dear saha bhAgavthAs, Accept my pranams. Wish you all Happy SriRama navami and advanced Tamil New Year celebrations. May the Divine Couple bless this entire universe. Srirama is endowed with anantha kalyANa guNas yet the prime quality He exhibits is sowshIlyam(condescension). The Valmiki Ramayana is nothig but the love story of SriRama(paramAtma)and sita(jIvAtma). We are the natural subjects of His boundless love. It is the story of "vipralambha shrngAra" or "the story of the love of the separated". SriRama set an example for everything(ideal son,ideal husband,ideal,brother,ideal friend and so on). No matter how many times the Ramayana is narrated, it never exhausts our energy but it only creates additional hunger for it as it brings the picture of the Lord live infront of us. This reminds our Sri kulashekhara AzhvAr, whose favorite was SriRama and his pastimes was hearing SriRamayana,got engrossed in it that when he heard Lord was fighting Ravana single handedly,overcame with emotional love for the Lord and concern for Lord's safety,got up and with his army went all the way to cross the indian ocean. EVeryone is familiar with this story. This is the greatness of SriRama avathAra. Although Sri Valmiki describes Sita's ideal love for SriRama in many places,we see the love reaching its pinnacle during her exile in Asokavana,an episode in Sundara kANda. Sita's love for SriRama is unparalleled and the misery that she is undergoing on account of her separation from SriRama is unberable and indescribable that even Hanuman says that his mind is pained at the sight of Sita's misery(NammAzhvAr also undergoes this Union and Separation with the Lord). It is even justified to say that Hanuman became a perfect bhaktha only after wiitnessing Sita/thAyAr's bhakthi. When Hanuman (known for rigorous celibacy),for the first time,met SriRama on the banks of Pampa,was puzzled,how the great IshvAku descendant could lose Himself in grief for the loss of a wife. Hanuman realised the mutual love of the Divine Couple only after he saw thAyAr in Asokavana. Hanuman,praises SriRama's love for Sita,in a highly emotional tone as follows: iyam sA yathkrthE rAMashcathurbhi: parithapyathE | kAruNyE nAnrshamsyEna shOkEna madhanEna ca || sthrI punaprthEthi kAruNyAth AshrithEthi Anrshamsyath | pathnI naShtEthi shOkEna priyEthi madhanEna ca || "this is the noble Sita,whose separation the Lord is grieving for a four-fold loss,namely the loss of a woman(sthrI),dependent(Ashritha), wife(pathnI) and sweetheart(priyE)" Normally the grief over the loss of a person/thing is directly proportional to the value attached to it. Greater is the effect of the love when we are separated from the "lost" person/thing. One can have more than one type of attachment/relation with the other person. This is again best illustrated by Bharatha's own words. BharathA says to SriRama " bhrAthu shishaShyasya dhAsasya"(I am your brother,disciple and slave) LakshmaNa,who had an insatiable hunger to serve SriRama,introduced himself to Hanuman as follows: "ahamasyAvarO bhrAthA juNair dhAsyam upAgatha:" (I was born SriRama's brother but having been attracted by His qualities,I have become His camp-follower even in His exile). Also refer to SVB 110 which explains this characteristic of Lakshmana. One should not misinterpret that Lakshmana's love was motivated by Lord's auspicious traits. One should remember that Lakshmana,being the incarnation of AdishESha(first servant),was devoted to SriRama right from the cradle(bAlyAth prAbruthi shushnigdha:). What about Sita's love for the Lord? refer to SVB 114. Sita tells anasuya " my love for SriRama is spontaneous but people are likely to construe that I love Him because of His excellence (physical and mental). It is difficult for me to prove that my fidelity has no strings attached to it. My fidelity will remain constant even if He were to be exactly the opposite of what He is". Similarly PerumAL/Lord is also attached to His devotees in more than one way. Therefore,He naturally grieved on various counts,during Sita-SriRama estrangement. All the time He worries about us and concerned about our welfare. NammAzhvAr says "uRanguvAn pOl yOgam seidhu". This wonderful trait of SriRama should be heartening to us and assures all those,who keep asking "does God answer our prayers",that they have His attention. Lastly there is no fun and the love/service is also incomplete if we don't join the bandwagon "mangaLAshAsana ghOShti" headed by PeriAzhvAr. So let us all pray for the safety and the well being of the Lord. mangaLam kOsalEndhrAya mahanIya guNAthmanE | chakravarthy thanUjAya sArva bhaumAya mangaLam || AzhvAr EmperumAnAr JIyar thiruvadigaLE sharaNam NC Nappinnai
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